More than 100 Pakistani soldiers die in avalanche

More than 100 Pakistani soldiers were buried by an avalanche near the Siachen
glacier on the border with India on Saturday, an army spokesman said.

The Siachen glacier on Pakistan-India border. An avalanche smashed into a Pakistani army base on the Himalayan glacier close to India on Saturday, April 7, 2012, burying around 130 soldiers. Photo: AP

By agencies in Islamabad

8:23AM BST 07 Apr 2012

It is thought that 117 soldiers were trapped by the avalanche but several Pakistani television channels reported up to 150 soldiers could have been buried.

"At six o'clock this morning this avalanche hit a (military) headquarters. Over 100 soldiers and personnel are trapped," said the spokesman, Major-General Athar Abbas, adding that rescue teams were heading to the scene.

He said the army would comment later on whether there were any casualties. Helicopters, sniffer dogs and troops were sent to the remote site.

The avalanche, at 5.45 am on Saturday, occured on the glacier's Gayari sector. The headquarters in Gayari is the main gateway through which troops and supplies pass on their way to other more remote outposts in the sector.

It is situated in a valley between two high mountains, close to a military hospital, according to an officer who was stationed there in 2003.